Homecoming
by tmb1112
Summary: After eight long years, Arya Stark returns home to a newly reclaimed Winterfell. R/R
1. Chapter 1

**Homecoming**

This is after the latest episode Season 6 Episode 10

"Lord Snow, Lady Stark."

Sansa and Jon looked over towards the door of the great hall. The two of them were sitting behind the long table in the back of the room talking to each other about strategy for the coming war.

The young woman with long red hair looked towards the door first. Over near it was Davos Seaworth. The longer they spent with this man, the more she trusted him just like Jon did. "What is it Sir Davos?" Sansa asked over at the man.

Davos bowed a little to the lady and looked over at the two people who were in charge of the north. "Someone is here who wishes very much to see you. She did not give her name," Davos turned around a little feeling a strange sense in his gut. His heart jumped a little at the sight of the girl standing right behind him.

The teenager had long black hair and eyes as dark as night. She walked right past Sir Davos without glancing twice at the man. She started walking across the long hall up towards the table at the head of the room.

Jon lowered his hand down to his waist where his greatsword rested. As he did, Davos grabbed the hilt of his own sword and followed after the girl walking through the room. Sansa had no weapon, but she did call out, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"Speak now, or you may be considered our enemy," Jon was not usually afraid of little girls, but this girl had a sheath at her side and did not look nervous in the least as she approached their table. He didn't recognize this young woman, but as he looked closer he thought the sheath at her side seemed a little... thin.

The young girl stopped walking when she was ten feet from the front of the table. Davos was not far behind her and he kept his hand on his hilt ready to draw at a second's notice. "Hello," she greeted, nodding her head a little to the two people before her.

Jon lifted his eyebrows but nodded back and said, "Hello yourself. Would you like to tell us your name?" He stared at this strange girl with an even stranger sense of familiarity to her.

Sansa narrowed her eyes at the girl in front of her too. 'Who is this? Why did she arrive here on her own?' The red head started confidently, "We do not have time for every citizen, Sir Davos. If you could, please refrain from letting them in during our private meetings."

"I'm sorry my Lady," Davos apologized. "But we did not let her in." Jon and Sansa both looked at the man strangely as he continued. "She came in on her own. I was watching the door but she arrived between me and the other guards."

Now Jon was alert and he narrowed his eyes at this girl as well. "Who are you? How did you get past our men?"

"Ha," the younger girl scoffed. "After living here for eight years I got to know the keep pretty well."

Sansa glanced at her half-brother and he glanced back at her. She turned to the girl in front of the table, "What do you mean by that? We have no time for games."

Arya Stark stared harshly at her sister and half-brother. "Is it really that hard to recognize me?" Both of them seemed confused and Arya just shook her head disappointedly. "Hey Jon," she began, then reached down and grabbed the hilt at her waist.

Davis's eyes widened and he drew his own weapon from his sheath. Jon Snow's eyes went wide as the girl drew her blade. He opened his mouth to command Davos to stop, but then his bottom lip lowered as the girl in front of him spun, disarmed Sir Davos, and spun back just as fast. Davos dropped his own jaw at the young woman's proficiency, but before he could pick back up his sword, he heard his new King call out, "Sir Davos, stand down."

The man looked over at Jon Snow, the King of the North, and slowly nodded his head in confusion. Sansa glanced at Jon and had no idea why he had a look of absolute shock on his face as he looked at this girl with her thin blade held out in front of her. "Oh come on," the younger girl began as she saw Sansa still clueless. "I thought you would recognize me first idiot. Guess you are still just a stupid girl."

Sansa's jaw dropped as this girl was speaking to her like no commander should. "I would remind you that I am Lady Stark-"

"Arya," Jon whispered, his voice barely carrying to the girl in front of the table. Sansa stopped speaking mid-sentence and her eyes started to widen. She glanced at Jon then snapped her gaze back to the girl in front of the table.

Sanaa's jaw dropped and the girl in front of the table just nodded. Arya said in a pretty quiet voice, "It's been a long time." The girl was trying really hard not to sprint up to the table in front of her, keeping her emotions in check as best she could. 'Jon, Sansa, it's really you.'

"That can't be Arya," Sansa stated suddenly. Jon looked at his sister and Arya did the same in more annoyance than her brother. Sansa continued with a harsh glare towards the girl in front of her, "My sister is dead."

"Hey, just because I escaped King's Landing when Dad died, doesn't mean I died." Arya narrowed her eyes at her sister. "I saw you standing right next to the Queen when they ordered Dad's death."

Sansa's eyes were slowly getting larger and she thought back to that day over five years before. "That's impossible," she whispered aloud.

"No," Arya responded in a cold voice. "Nothing, is impossible."

"Where have you been?" Jon asked, his voice full of disbelief. "Why didn't you come back sooner?"

"Come where?" Arya asked skeptically. "Winterfell?" She questioned with a scoff. She continued darkly, "I showed up at the Twins the night of the Red Wedding." Both her sister and half-brother went wide-eyed. She continued darkly, "I was seconds away from seeing mother and Robb again, but they were killed."

"Arya," Sansa whispered, no doubt in her mind that it was really her sister after hearing the tone of the girl's voice right there. "It really is you."

"I recognized you two right off the bat," Arya stated with a little bit of annoyance.

Jon and Sansa could not believe their eyes, but suddenly their bodies reacted to what they were seeing. The two of them hopped up and ran around either side of the table. They sprinted towards Arya, but she backed up away from them. Jon and Sansa saw the movement and they froze themselves. Both wanted to give their younger sister a hug, but she did not look like she wanted one.

"There is only one reason I came back to Westeros." Arya spoke and her words confused her siblings and the knight behind her.

"You were off of Westeros?" Sansa asked confusedly.

Without responding to her sister, Arya continued, "I came home to get revenge. I already started my vengeance. I killed Walder Frey," Sansa, Jon, and Davos's eyes turned huge as the young girl spoke. "I chopped up his children and fed them to him. Then I slit his throat and looked into his eyes as he left this world."

She looked into Sansa's eyes first, then turned to her older half-brother. She lifted up her thin sword in front of her body so it was vertical up in the air. "You gave me this sword Jon. My Needle is yours. Tell me who to kill next, and it will be done."

Only at this moment did Sansa and Jon see just how cold their younger sister's eyes were. Only now did they hear the tone of her voice that showed she would kill whoever he asked her to. Sansa stared at Arya nervously, 'What the Hell have you been doing these past eight years?' When Sansa first believed it was really her sister, she thought her sister had gotten away with a much easier life having escaped from King's Landing. Now that she saw her face to face however, it was hard to tell whether or not she had the more difficult life.

"Arya, I don't need your Needle," Jon began, stepping forward towards his sister. "I'm, so happy you're alive."

"You expected me to die that easily?" Arya asked with a small, fake, laugh. "I am Arya of House Stark. Daughter of Eddard and Catelyn. Sister to Robb, Rickon, Bran, Sansa, and Jon. I will survive as long as my enemies still live." Her siblings started staring at her in awe as she continued darkly, "Illyn Payne, The Mountain, Cersei Lannister. Three more names are on my list," she looked straight into Jon's eyes, "Who do you want me to kill first?"


	2. Chapter 2

Homecoming 2:

* * *

"How can you be sure?"

"I don't believe it!"

"The White Walkers?"

The many lords of the north in the Great Hall of Winterfell murmured loudly to each other and shouted questions without much order. The four sitting behind the table in the front of the room looked to be at varying levels of annoyance. The Maester of Winterfell sat calmly though he was trying to get the room to quiet down to no avail. Sansa had a calm expression, but she was frowning deeply around at the lords in the room and she noticed Petyr Baelish looking skeptical just like the others.

Jon had his fists clenched over the table as he was tired of having this conversation. No one he met took the news easily, but these Lords were taking a new meaning to the word disbelief. He saw Ser Davos and Lyanna Mormont both scolding Lords around them to just listen to their King, but no one was taking his word that a bunch of zombies had risen from the grave. None would easily accept the return of the White Walkers.

Arya was the most annoyed of them all however, as she was forced to sit in this meeting by her brother. 'Forced' was a strong word, but she figured it better not to start killing Northmen so she didn't escape her escort. She was right though in how much she despised this meeting already. When Jon mentioned the White Walkers, he glanced at her to see her reaction, but after seeing he was serious, she went right back to her annoyed expression.

Her thoughts were dark as she sat there. _"Arya I want you to stay in Winterfell. Arya you're a Lady." God! This is the exact reason I told them I killed Walder Frey, I thought they would stop treating me like a girl. If Jon doesn't send me after my enemies soon, I will just leave on my own._

Sansa noticed her younger sister's impatient expression and tried to keep herself from shivering as she looked at her. _Remember, she might very well feel the same way if I told her I fed Ramsey to his dogs. We aren't so different Arya._

"Everyone quiet!" Jon yelled, slamming his right fist down on the table. He glared around the room at the Lords who shut up and turned back his way. "Winter is here. It's going to be the longest one in ages. I have seen the Army of the Dead-"

"Impossible!"

"Nonsense!"

"Quiet!" Jon roared, silencing the room again. The older Lords looked at the young man as he darted his eyes around at them, daring them to speak up again. "The Army of the Dead is real. I led the Night's Watch to Hardhome, and my brothers died fighting the dead. My brothers were brought back, right in front of us." He turned to his left over to Tormund and saw the orange haired wildling nodding his head grimly. Jon continued shouting, "And if you think the Wall is going to keep them out, you-"

"Eeeeaa," a loud screech filled the room and Jon lost his train of thought. All the Lords forgot about what was happening and spun around to find the source of the noise. They all looked back to the doors of the hall that were left open, and they saw two men running towards them with weapons drawn. "Eeeeaa," the screech was heard again and swooping down from behind the doors was a bird.

A white bird with a six foot long wingspan shot through the doors of the hall. It flew through the air above the Lords and straight towards Jon Snow. "My Lords," one of he men chasing the bird called out. "It avoided all the guards."

"It's a damn bird for Gods' sake!" Lord Manderly shouted back at the worthless guards.

Jon reached down to grab his sword, but as it got closer to him, he saw something in the bird's mouth. "What is that?" He heard Arya question on his right side.

"It's carrying something," Sansa muttered.

Jon saw a man close to his table drawing a sword to slash at the bird, so he called out, "Sheath your blades." A few looked at him confusedly, but he watched the bird as it flew straight towards him without any hesitation in its path.

"Jon, that's a warg," Tormund called over from the left end of the table. A few of the Lords looked angrily at the wildling for referring to their King without any formal title, but they were much more interested in the bird.

"I thought so," Jon replied while watching the creature. The white bird reached his table and flapped its wings a few times to slow itself down as it landed in front of him. "What have you brought me?" Jon asked the bird, reaching forward and grabbing one end of the object in the bird's beak. It was a piece of wood, a pretty big chunk actually, though one side was flat.

"It's bark," Jon muttered as he pulled out the piece of wood.

"Jon, there's writing on the back," Sansa stated as she saw her brother turn it a little, looking at the wood confusedly.

Jon turned the wood around and he read the message on it. The one who wrote the message had no writing tools, so small words were carved into the wood. He read the message, and out from his hands dropped the wood.

Sansa and Arya looked at the table where the wood dropped between them and both reached forward to grab it. Arya was quicker, snatching up the wood and smirking as she got to read it next while her brother sat there shell shocked next to her. Her smile for getting the wood first slowly went away and a look of shock came to her face next. She put the wood back down in front of her and then lifted her gaze up to the white bird that turned her way as well.

Sansa was getting annoyed of not knowing what was going on, but she wasn't the only one. "Read it aloud!" A random Lord called out.

The red haired Stark girl picked up the bark and then looked out at all the men around the room. Her eyes lingered on Littlefinger for a few moments, then she looked down at the wood in her hand. "Dear Jon," she called out, satisfying the whims of their liege Lords. "Brother," Sansa continued, and a confused expression came to her face. She had seen Rickon's body buried in the crypt, and Robb was long dead. She continued reading while her mind raced, "In my travels beyond the Wall, I have learned a secret. You are not the son of Ned Stark."

The room became an uproar as the men around it started shouting that someone sent this bird to do its bidding or some other trickery. Sansa shouted over all of them, "However brother, you and I are still blood!" The men quieted down and looked towards their Lady who stood up out of her seat to shout at them all. She was sweating now as she read this piece of bark and she yelled out in continuation, "You are my cousin. Son of Lyanna Stark. And you are the son, of Rhaegar Targaryan."

The room became silent almost immediately. Tormund looked around in confusion as it seemed like everyone dropped their jaws at once. Even Sansa felt it hard to continue reading after hearing this. "Father kept you a secret to protect you from Robert the Usurper. Now however, it is time to tell the world the truth. Jon, the Night's King is on his way. You can't stop him on your own. You are the rightful ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. The King of the Andals and the First Men. Get Westeros behind you. Maybe then, we'll stand a chance." Sansa took a deep breath in and whispered the last words written at the bottom. "Your brother, Bran."

Arya's lips curled up into a grin as the words on the piece of bark finally settled in. She leaned forward towards the bird and smirked at it, "Glad you're still alive, Bran." Jon and Sansa both looked over at their sister, then together they looked at the bird in front of them. Bran-bird nodded his head and most of the room dropped their jaws even further at the reaction of the bird.

"Assuming that everything Bran said is true, which I have no idea how he would know this," Sansa began. Bran-bird flapped his wings in annoyance as there was not enough space to explain the Sight on a piece of wood small enough for this bird to carry. His older sister continued, "Then Jon is not the King of the North." She looked at her older brother and stated, "You are a Targaryan. The Seven Kingdoms are yours."

"Your father Ned threw away the Targaryan's claim," a lord called up at the table. "He chose Robert Baratheon as our King."

"And with Tommen's death," Sansa shouted right back at the Lord. "There are no longer any Baratheons. Cersei Lannister rules the Iron Throne." Sansa looked around at the Lords in the room. "She burnt down half of King's Landing. What do you think, she is just going to leave us alone up here?"

"Even if she does," Arya spoke up. "Bran said we can't defeat the White Walkers without help from the Seven Kingdoms." She looked at the bird in front of her again and couldn't help the smile from coming back on her face.

"That's assuming this bird is really your brother," Lord Manderly announced. "Last I heard, Theon Greyjoy killed-"

"They escaped," Sansa said firmly. "Theon told me that he lost my brothers, and Ramsay claimed they were dead. After seeing Rickon, do any of you doubt that Bran could have survived?"

"He may have," another Lord brought up. "But could he have survived all this time? Rickon was with Lord Umber, but Bran-"

"Went beyond the Wall years ago," Jon stated. Everyone looked back towards their King as he finally sat up a little. He looked down at the piece of bark in front of him and continued speaking while reading it again. "A brother of the Night's Watch told me that he met my crippled brother going north beyond the Wall." Jon stared at the bird in front of him and suddenly he remembered escaping from Tormund and the other wildlings back when he was pretending to be on their side. Summer had attacked to save his life, and now that it looked like Bran was a warg, he finally knew what had happened.

"What is your command?" Someone asked and everyone looked in front of the table to see Ser Davos stepping forward. The Onion Knight knelt in front of Jon and added, "My King."

"We followed one King south before," a Lord shouted daringly. A few others looked his way nervously but the man continued, "King Robb's war failed."

"We don't need a war," Jon stated. He looked around at he rest of the room. "And we don't need to march south." He stared straight at the Lord in the back who met his gaze then looked away. "We would be marching the wrong way. What we need is for the southern Lords to understand where the real war is taking place. We need _them_ to march _north_."

"With Cersei in charge of King's Landing, the Lannister army will be behind her," Sansa stated. "The other Lords won't want to go against her."

Arya turned in towards her siblings and her eyes bored into their skulls. Jon and Sansa turned to their younger sister and Arya whispered, "However, if Cersei were out of the picture, there would be nothing stopping the southern Lords from following us." Both of her siblings opened up their mouths and Arya continued darkly, "You can't take an army to King's Landing. But a single person... It may not be honorable Jon, but this is how it has to happen."

Ser Davos was kneeling right in front of the table so only he and the Maester were able to hear what Arya whispered to her siblings. The knight remembered what the girl told her brother and sister when she arrived in Winterfell, and for some reason the idea of sending a little girl to assassinate the Queen actually sounded like the best idea to him.

"So then, what are we to do?" Lady Lyanna called out.

Murmurs filled the room and Jon stood up out of his seat, quieting them all. "Lords, I will not ask you to march south. However I command you to send your fastest riders to every corner of the kingdom. From the shores of Dorne to the Riverlands to Casterly Rock itself. The Night's Watch sent ravens to to Lords of the Seven Kingdoms before, and only Stannis Baratheon realized the true threat that lay beyond the wall. I will not trust this message to be sent by ravens. To defeat the Army of the Undead, we will need the greatest army the North has ever seen or ever will see for another ten thousand years after we shove those bastards back into the ground!"

"Raaaaa!" The Lords stood up and drew their blades, roaring along with Jon Snow, or Jon Targaryan as they now knew him as.

"And after that?" Sansa asked her older brother while the room continued to cheer. She stood up next to him and looked in, "What will you do, Jon Targaryan?"

Jon looked at his sister, then turned to his younger one on his other side. "Let's raise the largest army in the world and fight a horde of the undead before we make that decision."

While he spoke to his sisters, one man in the room was not cheering with the rest. Petyr Baelish's eyes turned dark the minute Sansa read the message on that piece of bark. _A Targaryan? Another, Targaryan?!_ He turned and started marching away. _The Knights of the Vale are mine. Sansa Stark is mine. The Seven Kingdoms are mine!_


End file.
